NHER 27388 (Monument record) - Probable World War Two Direction Finding Station

May 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A probable pillbox is visible on aerial photographs (S1) to (S3), first as an extant structure and subsequently demolished to ground level, centred at TG 5060 1695. It is first visible on aerial photographs taken in May 1944 (S1); its absence from earlier photographs (S4) indicates that it must have been constructed after 10th February 1941. It had been demolished by July 1946 (S3), although its concrete or masonry base remains visible. Like other, similar sites (e.g. NHER 38952) the purpose of the superstructure is not clear. It might have acted as camouflage for the pillbox below, disguising it as a windmill or lighthouse. Alternatively, it might have housed military equipment.

The pillbox or structure itself and its base may both be polygonal in plan, but the photographs are not clear enough to distinguish their exact form and they have both been mapped as circular. It is possible that this site corresponds with an otherwise unidentified Type 24 pillbox, now demolished, listed in a gazetteer at TG 5040 1690 (S5).
S. Tremlett (NMP), 25 May 2005.

December 2006. Norfolk NMP.
Comparison with other sites, such as NHER 43313, which have been identified by Roger Thomas of English Heritage suggests that the ‘pillbox’ described above is instead a World War Two Direction Finding station. It would have formed part of the ‘Coastal System’ of such sites, which were used as navigation aids by Allied aircraft.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 17 December 2006.